


The Complex Combination

by BrandiAlyssa



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-02
Updated: 2013-04-02
Packaged: 2017-12-07 07:04:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/745683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrandiAlyssa/pseuds/BrandiAlyssa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luna stumbles across an unusual and complex ritual thing that could change Neville's life. But will he be happy that she goes behind his back to do it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Complex Combination

Luna was sprawled out on her bed at home, a worn journal spread open in front of her. Her brow was furrowed and she was biting her lip in concentration as she read the neat and tiny handwriting of her mother. It was one of the two her mother had written, and Luna had read them both. The first was her personal journal, day to day happenings and the like. But it was the one in front of her now that Luna was currently interested in.

Her mother was a Ravenclaw and brilliant in many subjects. One of her passions was research in combining charms and potions. Though it eventually led to her death when Luna was only nine, she had written down everything she had ever done and the results of different trials, if she progressed that far. The entry that lay open was from before Luna was even born but sparked her interest recently.

Neville Longbottom, her boyfriend of nearly a year, had finally taken her to see his parents at St. Mungo’s. She knew he’d been there often, especially after the war ended, telling them what had happened and how the restoration efforts were going. She had never asked to go before, but when she did, he hesitantly granted her request. The young woman remembered seeing how worried he was as they entered the Janus Thickey Ward. She had smiled, squeezed his hand, and then blown bubbles with his mother. It was when she got home that night that the idea hit her.

She had pulled her mother’s experiment journal off her bookshelf and flipped through the pages until she found it. Titled ‘Spell Induced Insanity Reversal’, it detailed a complex potion and charm combination that could be used to reverse the effects of certain spells, specifically the Cruciatus Curse. Luna was currently studying the incantation required before attempting the potion. She didn’t know how she would get Neville or St. Mungo’s to let her attempt the combination, but she had to try.

Her mother’s notes detailed that the combination had been tried on several animals and three people, most of them successfully the first try. The rate of difficulty, however, prevented it from becoming a highly used remedy at St. Mungo’s. The notes also said that it could be performed a maximum of three times, though failure changed nothing in the patient’s state of mental health. There was nothing to lose by attempting. Luna was confident in her ability to perform the required steps, for Neville’s sake if nothing else.

It took her nearly a week to master the incantation and another two months to brew the potion. Though the amount of time required to master the combination would normally bring suspicion on her from her boyfriend, he was currently apprenticed to Professor Sprout and off at Hogwarts until Christmas, which was only a few weeks off now.

 

* * *

 

Miriam Strout was a motherly-looking healer that took care of the four residents of the Janus Thickey Ward. Though two of her residents have some semblance of self, though one of them barked, it was the other two that she felt bad for. Frank and Alice Longbottom were wonderful people and had a loving son that came to visit often. Miriam had come to know Neville very well with his frequent visits. He was often with his grandmother, though he came once with a girl he had met at school, Luna Lovegood. It was a surprise when Luna entered the ward alone and approached her.

“Healer Strout, have you ever heard of my mother, Salvia Lovegood?”

The woman nodded. “She was a clever one. Figured out how to solve many health problems by combining charms and potions and other things.” She narrowed her eyes for a minute. “Does your visit have anything to do with something like that?”

Luna nodded and took a deep breath. “In a journal that she kept track of all her experiments in, I found one for reversing spell induced insanity. It dealt specifically with the effects of long term exposure to the Cruciatus Curse. I’ve spent the last two months studying and practicing. I was hoping—”

“You were hoping you might try it on the Longbottoms?” The young woman nodded once more. “Have you spoken to young Neville about it?”

“No. I didn’t want to get his hopes up if nothing could be done.”

Healer Strout frowned for a moment. “Explain how it works.”

Luna launched into the details the potion-charm combination entailed. The potion would be administered either orally or intravenously and then the incantation said while the caster was touching them. If it worked, the patient would sleep for twenty-four hours to allow the mind time to repair itself. They would then awake, able to remember bits and pieces of what has been said and done around them. They might be shocked for a bit, but after some rest to allow them to fully regain their health, they could re-enter society. They would have to retrain their magic after having it lay dormant for so long, a process that could take several years, but they would eventually return to their full potential. Another benefit of the potion was that it would reverse some of the aging that occurred, not all, but some.

When asked about the downsides, Luna shook her head. “Mother wrote that there were no downsides. The ritual can be attempted up to three times with a minimum of one week between each trial. If it fails, then there is no further damage and the patient remains as they have been.” She brought her silver eyes to the other woman deep in thought. “If it fails, Neville could be none the wiser, but if I succeeded, it would be such a gift to him. Please, let me try.”

The healer studied Luna for a moment. There was such a passion behind her words and she could see that the young woman honestly wanted to return what this boy had lost long ago. “Why are you doing this?”

Luna seemed taken back for a moment. “How can I not do this? I love Neville so much and to be able to give him his family back would mean so much to me and him. I know how much it hurts him to walk in here and see them lying there with no idea who he is. He has gone through so much pain that I want to be able to give him something to look forward to next time he walks in this ward. With his gran passing away this past summer, he’s had no family to talk to. I want him to be able to talk to his parents and have them respond with more than bubbles, candy wrappers, and drool. I want him to be happy.”

A smile softened the healer’s face. “Alright. We can try. How long will it take you to prepare?”

Luna’s face lit up like it was Christmas. “Oh thank you! I’ve actually got the potion here and the incantation memorized. I can start now.”

“You weren’t going to take no for an answer, were you?” the older woman laughed as she led the way.

Together they orally administered the potion to Neville’s parents. Luna carefully timed the five minutes for the potion to take affect from a chair between the beds. At the end of the time, she took Alice’s hand in her left and Frank’s in her right. She closed her eyes and began the long Latin incantation.

Healer Strout watched carefully and for a while nothing happened. And then she saw it. There was a faint glow around the pair of joined hands and the Longbottoms’ eyes began to droop. They had fully closed and were asleep when Luna slumped forward, her arms falling limp at her sides.

“Luna!” The healer carefully sat the young woman up and watched as her eyes flickered open.

“I’m fine, tired is all. Two at once is a drain on my magic.” A grin worked its way onto Luna’s lips. “It worked, I can tell. Do you mind if I sleep here tonight? I don’t think I could make it home.” The healer helped her into a spare bed in the room and left her to sleep off the magical drain.

 

* * *

 

When her eyes fluttered open the next morning, it took Luna a minute to realize where she was. As soon as she did, she was up and over to where the couple were still sleeping.

“You’ve got a couple hours yet.” Luna turned to find Healer Strout standing in the door. “It’s been twenty hours. You slept a long time.” She tilted her head at the young woman. “Why don’t you head home for a bit. Get a shower and some food then come back. We can see what happens then.”

Though reluctant to leave, Luna went home and did just that. She took a nice, long, hot shower before dressing in jeans and a floaty yellow shirt. It felt like a day for happy colors. She made herself a late lunch before slipping into a pair of shoes and apparating back to St. Mungo’s. When she arrived, it was just past four in the afternoon; twenty-three hours had passed since she performed the life altering spell.

She resumed her seat between the two parents and thought about what she was going to tell Neville. Healer Strout insisted that she floo him on official St. Mungo’s business if they woke up. Luna would meet him at the Ward’s entrance and lead the surprise. She just hoped he wouldn’t be too angry for keeping this hidden.

It was twenty-four hours on the dot and both Longbottoms began to stir. The healer was in the room as soon as Luna was out of her seat, both expectant. Alice opened her eyes before her husband. At first it seemed as if nothing had changed, but then she spoke.

“You’re Luna.” Her voice was rough from disuse, but it was clear and perfectly sane.

The young woman let out a happy sob as Frank finally opened his eyes and spoke. “And you’re the healer.”

“It worked,” Healer Strout breathed. “I can’t believe it worked.” She turned to Luna and put her hands on her shoulders. “You are absolutely brilliant.” Her eyes went back to the couple. “Welcome back. I have a floo call to make.” She disappeared in a flurry of excitement.

Luna smiled through her tears at the couple. “Yes, I’m Luna. Do you know what has happened?”

“I recall bits and pieces.” Frank rubbed a hand over his eyes. “I remember the Lestranges attacking the house and yelling at Alice to protect Neville. Then pain like no tomorrow and then…nothing. There were voices occasionally. My mother I remember clearly.”

“And a boy,” Alice said, “a boy that I gave candy wrappers to. I have these scattered images of him growing up, so scared and timid. He told us stories at first of having no magic and then no friends. And then he had friends and he was at school. He had these grand adventures and helped take down someone and we would be proud. And I remember you visiting once.”

Luna smiled softly. “That would be your son. He has grown into a fine young man that I love more than anything in the world. I would love to tell you more right now but Healer Strout just went to floo him. He has no idea what I’ve done here and I have to meet him, but I’ll be back soon.”

She was almost to the door when Alice’s voice called her to turn around. “Thank you. You’ve given us our lives back.”

“I was happy to.”

She paced back and forth behind the doors to the ward, waiting for Neville to come bursting through. Healer Strout had already returned from the floo. Luna knew she would have to wait for Headmistress McGonagall to make her way to the greenhouses and tell Neville; then he would have to get back up to her office to floo over before coming upstairs. Footsteps in the hall pulled her out of her thoughts and alerted her to his presence.

He ran through the door and Luna couldn’t help but smile. Dirt speckled his robes and was smeared across his cheek. His hair looked like he had either tried to pull some of it out or imitate Harry’s hairstyle. His brown eyes were frantic as they darted around the ward before settling on her in the middle of the hall.

“Luna! What are you doing here? Do you know what is going on?” She smiled and brushed at the dirt on his face and then began straightening his hair out. “Luna!”

“Calm down. I know exactly what’s going on, I caused it.” She cast a quick spell to clean the dirt from his robes and finally looked up at him. The look in his eyes caused her to hesitate before marching on. “After I visited with you a few months ago, I remembered something in one of my mum’s journals. I got permission from Healer Strout to try it out. If it hadn’t worked nothing would have changed but it did.”

Neville’s hands came up to grip her shoulders tightly. “What did you do?” His voice was low and steady, but she could feel the anger barely controlled behind it. She also felt his fingers digging into her shoulders as he worried she had killed off the last of his family.

Luna tried not to let it show, but it hurt that he was angry without letting her fully explain. “I’m sorry I kept it a secret, but I hope you can forgive me when you learn what happened. If you will let go of me, I can show you.” He released her slowly and she took his hand to lead him down the hall to his parents’ door. She placed her hand on the door handle. “I know you’re angry because I did something to your parents and I didn’t tell you. I hope this is enough for you to forgive me.” She pushed the door open and led him inside.

At first he saw nothing that had changed. When he really looked at his parents, he noticed the difference. They were sitting up straight, without support, and their eyes watched him carefully. He noticed his mother’s hair had gone back to the dark brown it was early in her stay and that his father was no longer drooling. He turned back to Luna to ask what sort of cruel trick she had played when a feminine voice called out to him.

“Neville?” He turned to see his mother smiling at him, tears in her eyes. “Is that really you?”

“Mum? Dad?” His eyes flicked from one to the other. Both nodded and smiled. He rushed over to hug his parents. “What? How? I don’t understand.”

Frank patted his hand. “Neither do we, but we know that young lady had something to do with it and she loves you very much.”

Neville turned his attention back to Luna. There were tears streaming down her cheeks as she stood by the door, unsure of her place. Her hands covered her mouth, stifling any sound that dared escape. As he stood, dark spots on her shoulders caught his eye. A small, dark, oval marked her pale skin on either shoulder where, he realized, his thumbs had been. He was sure there were others to accompany them on her back. Her eyes followed him as he walked over to her.

“You did this? How?”

She swallowed a small sob before speaking. “I found one of my mother’s experiment journals. One of the entries related to spell induced insanity reversal. There was a complex potion and a long, complicated Latin incantation, but she had proved it to work on people in the past. It was magically draining and very complex so it was never put into practical use. There were no side effects other than slight magical exhaustion for the caster so I brewed the potion and learned the incantation. I obtained permission from Healer Strout yesterday to attempt the reversal. If it didn’t work, I may have never told you because their condition wouldn’t have changed. I didn’t want to get your hopes up for something that may have never happened. I’m sorry I hid it from you, but I’m not sorry I did it.”

His expression was soft. “Why did you do it?”

She smiled softly. “Healer Strout asked the same thing. How can I not? I love you so much and I knew being able to give you your family back would mean the world to you. I know how much it hurt to walk in here and see your parents lying there with no idea who you were. You have gone through so much pain, especially in the last two years; I wanted to be able to give you something. I want you to be happy.”

He pulled her close and buried his nose in her hair. She hugged him back as he spoke. “You made me happy before, but this is above and beyond. You are brilliant and I’m sorry for how I reacted.” Neville pulled back and placed his hands gently over the bruises. He concentrated and said, “ _Episky_.” The bruises faded away to nothing. His hands slid up to cup her face and he laid a tender kiss on her forehead. “I’m sorry. It’s just that McGonagall told me I was needed here immediately and I thought the worst. And then you said you caused it and I didn’t take the time to think. I was afraid…”

“You were afraid you had lost your parents. I understand.” She smiled up at him. “Instead of standing here apologizing to me, why don’t you go talk to them? I’ll go home for a bit and give you time.”

“No,” he said firmly, taking one of her hands. “You’re staying with me where I can proclaim to everybody how you are a brilliant witch and that I love you so very much.” He led her over to where Alice and Frank had been watching them. “Mum, Dad, I’d like you to meet Luna Lovegood, my absolutely brilliant girlfriend.”


End file.
